Official word from the Sharks: No announcements coming today

No last-minute Ryane Clowe signature on a new contract that would prevent him from becoming an RFA? No last minute signing of Mike Grier or Brian Boucher or any of the other players who become UFAs at midnight? No anything?

Nothing.

That could change, of course. Or not.

Today was also the deadline for teams that wanted to buy out contracts. St. Louis, for example, sent defenseman Jay McKee packing with two-thirds of his $4 million salary for the remaining year left on his contract. McKee now becomes an unrestricted free agent and the $2.67 million or so salary cap hit gets spread over the two years.

But if anyone thought the Sharks might take that course of action with someone like, for example, Jody Shelley. It didn’t happen. Like I said, the buzzword today is no news.

That should change tomorrow, of course, with the start of free agency. But hints have been dropped over the past week that the Sharks see July 1 as simply one date on a long calendar between now and the start of training camp.

Meanwhile, Swedish free agent goalie Jonas Gustavsson’s agent did let it be known that The Monster won’t be deciding his next move by July 1 after all. Gustavsson is still dealing with the aftermath of the recent death of his mother and word was he didn’t want to make a hasty call as far as picking the Sharks, Avalanche, Leafs or Stars as his initial NHL team. Sharks GM Doug Wilson must’ve known yesterday that there would be a delay because he made it clear he had no problem with the process taking a little longer.

“We’ll give him as much time as he needs to make his decision,” said Wilson, who noted the personal trauma that Gustavsson was dealing with.

Wilson has been traveling from Ottawa today, and I hope to catch up with him later just to be sure nothing is really all that’s happening.

Back to goalies for a minute. I did get a call today from a Philadelphia-area reporter who said the Flyers are likely to show some interest in Boucher as back-up to newly signed Ray Emery. Considering the Flyers weren’t too happy when the Sharks signed Boucher out of their farm system in February 2008, it might make sense for them to try and bring him back at this point. Boucher began his career in Philly and it would bring him closer to his Rhode Island roots, so it might make sense from his perspective, too. All that presumes, of course, that the Sharks see Gustavsson or Thomas Greiss as their likely back-up this fall.

Other gossip: Though Clowe is still without a new contract and hours away from becoming an RFA, a source familiar with the situation said things appear to be going well. We’ll find out soon enough.

I also talked to Dan Boyle today about Rob Blake’s signing. Boyle, not surprisingly, indicated he was not exactly shocked by the news.

“I guess I was assuming all along he would be coming back so it wasn’t a huge surprise,” said Boyle, who is spending a few more weeks in Florida where his wife’s family lives before heading first to Ottawa and then back to San Jose. “I think he’s still got a lot left in the tank.”

Getting hold of Blake has been more challenging. Still trying, though.

**** That trip to the IIHF World Championships in May appears to have earned Joe Pavelski a shot at making the U.S. Olympic team. Today, USA Hockey announced that Pavelski has been invited to Men’s Olympic Orientation Camp in surburban Chicago from August 17-19.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.